A human body has been found in the search zone of the missing AirAsia flight, Indonesian Air Forces have stated, according to media reports. Objects resembling parts of plane were seen in the same area.
“There was a man swaying on the waves. After I looked at the photo carefully on my laptop, I understood it was a human body,” a lieutenant of the Indonesian Air Force told local media.
It comes after objects that resemble an emergency slide, plane door, and a square box-like item have been spotted 10km from the last position of the missing AirAsia jet, according to Indonesian authorities.
“We spotted about 10 big objects and many more small white-colored objects which we could not photograph,” Indonesian air force official Agus Dwi Putranto told a press conference on Tuesday.
“The position (of the spotted objects) is 10 kilometers from the location the plane was last captured by radar,” he added.
The official displayed 10 photos of the objects, which are highly suspected of belonging to a Singapore-bound AirAsia plane that took off from Indonesia and vanished off radars on Sunday while carrying 162 passengers on board.
Meanwhile, an Indonesia National Search and Rescue spokesman, Yusuf Latif, said on Tuesday that an Indonesian military aircraft found white, red and black objects which appear to be a life jacket off the coast about 170 kilometers south of Pangkalan Bun.
Latif said the pieces of debris would be taken to the search and rescue coordination post on Belitung Island.
“This is the most significant finding, but we cannot confirm anything until the investigation is completed,” he added.
This comes as an Indonesian Air Force pilot, Lieutenant Tri Prabowo, also said on Tuesday that he has spotted a possible body floating in the search zone of the missing plane.
“I thought it was a person floating in the waves, but once I looked at the photo on my notebook, I noticed that the body had already bloated, so it’s obvious we’re talking about a body,” Prabowo said.
Most of the search is conducted by Indonesia, but Singapore, Malaysia and Australia are taking part as well.